The Cove
Dr. Richard Blackaby, The Cove May 2023
I recently visited the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove for a seminar by Dr. Richard Blackaby called “Becoming a friend of God”. The focus was on the life of Abraham, but we looked at elements of the life of Isaac, Sarah, and Lot too. The contrast of Abraham and Lot was most interesting. Abraham’s life was a journey of character development and closeness to God, while Lot’s life was one of worldliness and a sense of ‘close enough’. Abraham made mistakes and willful decisions against God’s will, but he always returned and his character grew from the lessons learned. Lot continually chose to live a duplicitous lifestyle of knowing God yet loving the world. Lot chose the lush land without God, and Abraham was willing to take the wilderness with God. Abraham continually journeyed with God, going all-in and ultimately being called a ‘friend of God’, yet Lot continually journeyed closer to Sodom before finally going all-in as a man ‘sitting in the gate’ of Sodom. Abraham trusted God with the sacrifice of Isaac saying, ‘we will go and we will return’, yet Lot was willing to atrociously sacrifice his daughters to the lusts of evil men. Isaac trusted his father’s walk with God, even to the point of impending death, while Lot’s son-in-laws discounted his warnings as a mere joke when it mattered most before the impending doom of Sodom. Abraham’s family learned to take the word of God seriously, and they were blessed; Lot’s family did not, and they fell in ruin. Abraham’s wife was blessed. Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt. Abraham took the word of God seriously, and nations were blessed. Lot didn’t, and not only did his life come to ruin, but his two daughters birthed sons who would ultimately become the Moabites and Ammonites, enemies to Israel.
We’re all on a journey, and none of us are sitting on a proverbial spiritual fence. We’re either journeying with God, growing increasingly closer to Him, or with the world, increasingly becoming aligned to its passions. Choose wisely.
The main take-away for me, however, was a quote by Dr. Blackaby who said, “You base God’s will on the last thing He said to you; not on circumstances or how people treat you”. This was mentioned in the context of Genesis 12, where we read of a severe famine that came over the land, and Abraham’s departure from Bethel and his subsequent journey to Egypt. Consider that Egypt is ‘the way of the world’, in essence, because of the Nile and its great provision. God didn’t tell Abraham to go to Egypt, and we don’t read in this instance that Abraham inquired of the Lord on whether to go. It seemed logical based on the circumstances to head to Egypt for provision during a famine, and the world would sure agree; however, Abraham was a man with the call of God upon his life, and God didn’t tell him to go. Consider that in previous chapters we read of the Lord’s incredible promises, Abraham calling on the name of the Lord, the Lord leading Abraham, and Abraham erecting altars to the Lord in remembrance. But after a beautiful altar erecting moment in Bethel, a famine comes, and Abraham changes his ways. Why? We don’t absolutely know, but it seems that circumstances could still dictate Abraham’s walk, and Abraham discounted the ways of God when faced with a challenge. This is where my conviction and testimony comes in. The book I’m holding in the picture is Dr. Blackaby’s latest, called “The Ways of God”. I’ve just started to read it and not qualified to give a good account, but the foundation of the book that I’ve gleaned so far is that His acts and His ways are not necessarily the same. His ways are good and unchanging, but His acts may sometimes lead you to conclude otherwise. In Abraham’s life, after God called him away from His home on this great journey with God, He allowed a famine to come over the land in which He told Abraham to go, and Abraham stumbled in that moment. In my life, God allowed a famine of sorts to come over the plains of my life, and I stumbled too. Like Abraham, the famine came just after an anointed, beautiful, worshipful, alter erecting moment in my life. Like Abraham, I ceased calling on the name of the Lord and departed for the provision of Egypt. Like Abraham, my life in Egypt was self-serving and certainly not a blessing to others as the Lord has promised it would be. Dr. Blackaby would later say that big assignments require big tests, and although Abraham failed this test, it would be used greatly for character development and trust. I’m thankful that such is the same for me. By God’s grace and His providence, I am not ignorant to the wretchedness that still resides in the caverns of my heart, and He is faithful to restore and redeem, and allow me to return to the last place He called me. I’m 14 years into my journey with the Lord, and I’m thankful that my sojourning in Egypt is but a minor diversion in a great journey, and a major growth opportunity too. If big assignments do require big tests, as Dr. Blackaby said, then I continue in prayer, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” (1 Chronicles 4:10). The foundational truth to a life lived in fellowship with God is that He is continually blessing and continually enlarging our borders, even when the particular circumstances don’t seem to align with that truth. Consider the story of Joseph and the pit, bondage, and prison God allowed for His greater purpose and Joseph’s greater good.
May we all remember that the word of God is sure, and the ways of God are unchanging and higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8). Circumstances and people do not validate or invalidate His word. Timing is in His hands. What He has spoken, He will do.
In the words of Habakkuk the prophet, “I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved. Then the Lord answered me and said, ‘Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay. Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith’.” Habakkuk 2:1-4
*As a footnote, it’s interesting to consider that I wasn’t originally signed up to be at The Cove for this seminar. A frustrating change of plans in November postponed my visit from a time I really wanted to be there and a seminar I really wanted to hear, to a time I really needed to be there and a seminar perfectly suited. His ways are higher than our ways, and His timing is perfect, indeed.
